The present invention relates to storage batteries. More specifically, the present invention relates to electronic battery testers used to test storage batteries.
Storage batteries, such as lead acid storage batteries, are used in a variety of applications such as automotive vehicles and standby power sources. Typical storage batteries consist of a plurality of individual storage cells which are electrically connected in series. Each cell can have a voltage potential of about 2.1 volts, for example. By connecting the cells in the series, the voltages of the individual cells are added in a cumulative manner. For example, in a typical automotive storage battery, six storage cells are used to provide a total voltage of about 12.6 volts. The individual cells are held in a housing and the entire assembly is commonly referred to as the xe2x80x9cbattery.xe2x80x9d
It is frequently desirable to ascertain the condition of a storage battery. Various testing techniques have been developed over the long history of storage batteries. For example, one technique involves the use of a hygrometer in which the specific gravity of the acid mixture in the battery is measured. Electrical testing has also been used to provide less invasive battery testing techniques. A very simple electrical test is to simply measure the voltage across the battery. If the voltage is below a certain threshold, the battery is determined to be bad. Another technique for testing a battery is referred to as a load test. In a load test, the battery is discharged using a known load. As the battery is discharged, the voltage across the battery is monitored and used to determine the condition of the battery. More recently, techniques have been pioneered by Dr. Keith S. Champlin and Midtronics, Inc. of Willowbrook, Ill. for testing storage battery by measuring a dynamic parameter of the battery such as the dynamic conductance of the battery. These techniques are described in a number of United States patents, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,911, issued Mar. 25, 1975, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 3,909,708, issued Sep. 30, 1975, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,768, issued Mar. 28, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,170, issued Apr. 25, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE SCALING; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,038, issued Nov. 14, 1989, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH AUTOMATIC VOLTAGE SCALING TO DETERMINE DYNAMIC CONDUCTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,416, issued Mar. 27, 1990, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE WITH STATE-OF-CHARGE COMPENSATION; U.S. Pat. No. 5,140,269, issued Aug. 18, 1992, to Champlin, entitled ELECTRONIC TESTER FOR ASSESSING BATTERY/CELL CAPACITY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,343,380, issued Aug. 30, 1994, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR SUPPRESSING TIME VARYING SIGNALS IN BATTERIES UNDERGOING CHARGING OR DISCHARGING; U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,136, issued Nov. 5, 1996, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH AUTOMATIC COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,355, issued Nov. 12, 1996, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTION AND CONTROL OF THERMAL RUNAWAY IN A BATTERY UNDER CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,728, issued Dec. 17, 1996, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH AUTOMATIC COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,093, issued Jan. 7, 1997, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTING DEVICE LOOSE TERMINAL CONNECTION DETECTION VIA A COMPARISON CIRCUIT; U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,098, issued Jan. 28, 1997, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH VERY HIGH NOISE IMMUNITY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,757,192, issued May 26, 1998, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETECTING A BAD CELL IN A STORAGE BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,756, issued Oct. 13, 1998, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH TAILORED COMPENSATION FOR LOW STATE-OF-CHARGE; U.S. Pat. No. 5,831,435, issued Nov. 3, 1998, entitled BATTERY TESTER FOR JIS STANDARD; U.S. Pat. No. 5,914,605, issued Jun. 22, 1999, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 5,945,829, issued Aug. 31, 1999, entitled MIDPOINT BATTERY MONITORING; U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,238, issued Dec. 14, 1999, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX IMPEDANCE OF CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,037,777, issued Mar. 14, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 6,051,976, issued Apr. 18, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,098, issued Jun. 27, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,245, issued Jul. 18, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUDITING A BATTERY TEST; U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,167, issued Aug. 15, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,269, issued Oct. 24, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONICALLY EVALUATING THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OF AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY; U.S. Pat. No. 6,163,156, issued Dec. 19, 2000, entitled ELECTRICAL CONNECTION FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,483, issued Jan. 9, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX IMPEDANCE OF CELL AND BATTERIES; U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,505, issued Jan. 9, 2001, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Pat. No. 6,222,369, issued Apr. 24, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Pat. No. 6,225,808, issued May 1, 2001, entitled TEST COUNTER FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/293,020, filed Apr. 16, 1999, entitled AUTOMOTIVE BATTERY CHARGING SYSTEM TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/544,696, filed Apr. 7, 2000, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/304,315,filed May 3, 1999, entitled MIDPOINT BATTERY MONITORxe2x80x9d; U.S. Ser. No. 09/290,133, filed Mar. 26, 1999, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/560,920, filed Apr. 28, 2000, entitled MULTI-LEVEL CONDUCTANCE TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/431,446, filed Nov. 1, 1999, entitled ALTERNATOR DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM; U.S. Ser. No. 09/432,473, filed Nov. 1, 1999, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER WITH INTERNAL BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 09/388,501, filed Sep. 1, 1999, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR EVALUATING STORED CHARGE IN AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 069/703,270, filed Oct. 31, 2000, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/503,015, filed Feb. 11, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX ADMITTANCE OF CELLS AND BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 09/564,740, filed May 4, 2000, entitled ENERGY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/575,629, filed May 22, 2000, entitled VEHICLE ELECTRICAL SYSTEM TESTER WITH ENCODED OUTPUT; U.S. Ser. No. 09/780,146,filed Feb. 9, 2001, entitled STORAGE BATTERY WITH INTEGRAL BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/575,627, filed May 22, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 09/577,421, filed May 22, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CHARGING A BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 09/816,768, filed March 23, 2001, entitled MODULAR BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/662,401, filed Sep. 14, 2000, entitled TESTING PARALLEL STRINGS OF STORAGE BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 09/662,092, filed Sep. 14, 2000, entitled ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER FOR TESTING PARALLEL STRINGS OF STORAGE BATTERIES; U.S. Ser. No. 09/654,715, filed Sep. 5, 2000, entitled APPARATUS FOR CALIBRATING ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/691,586, filed Oct. 18, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR ELECTRONICALLY EVALUATING THE INTERNAL TEMPERATURE OF AN ELECTROCHEMICAL CELL OR BATTERY; U.S. Ser. No. 09/710,031, filed Nov. 10, 2000, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR MEASURING COMPLEX SELF-IMMITTANCE OF A GENERAL ELECTRICAL ELEMENT; U.S. Ser. No. 09/740,254, filed Dec. 18, 2000, entitled ELECTRICAL CONNECTION FOR ELECTRONIC BATTERY TESTER; U.S. Ser. No. 09/756,638, filed Jan. 8, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DETERMINING BATTERY PROPERTIES FROM COMPLEX IMPEDANCE/ADMITTANCE; U.S. Ser. No. 09/862,783, filed May 21, 2001, entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TESTING CELLS AND BATTERIES EMBEDDED IN SERIES/PARALLEL SYSTEMS; U.S. Ser. No. 09/483,623, filed Jan. 13, 2000, entitled ALTERNATOR TESTER; and U.S. Ser. No. 09/361,487, filed Jul. 26, 1999, entitled APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR CARRYING OUT DIAGNOSTIC TESTS ON BATTERIES FOR RAPIDLY CHARGING BATTERIES.
An electronic battery tester for testing a storage battery includes first and second Kelvin connections configured to couple to the battery. A forcing function applies a time varying signal to the battery through the first and second Kelvin connections. Further, a resistive load is configured to couple across the first and second terminals of the battery and draw a relatively large current. The storage battery is tested as a function of a dynamic parameter measured through the first and second Kelvin connections and as a function of a response of the storage battery to the relatively large current drawn through the resistive load.